Sunday, October 10, 2010

While watching The XX yesterday, I took 17 pictures of this naked inflatable blow-up doll. It was acting as a place-marker for a group of friends, and according to my photos, commanded a little more attention from my camera than the band itself.

Heh. That one is my favorite.

Anyway. In the middle of The XX's set, I squeezed my way out of the crowd with my buddy Dan. He needed a beer, and I needed to catch the last few songs of The Temper Trap's set.

Now: A word on The Temper Trap. I'd like to share with you a photo I took at SXSW 2009, right before the band popped. This was pre-Diet Coke commercial, pre-500 Days of Summer soundtrack.

(I'm sorry the photo is so crooked. I went through this phase in 2009 where I thought tilted pictures looked really cool, but now I see they just force you to tilt your head sideways).

Note how close I am to the stage in this picture. I took this with no zoom, inside the diviest of 6th St. dive bars, Dirty Dog. Note also the discernible amount of physical space between each audience member.

At that show, I remember turning to Ross and saying, "I feel like I'm part of something important right now." Because it's true, I was completely blown away by them. Dougy Mandagi, the lead singer, turned around and played the drums at one point along WITH the real drummer, and I thought: "Dear God. Who are these guys?"

THIS was their audience yesterday.

My, how times have changed for The Temper Trap!

I ran into them at the Rock the Vote Nights party last night, and congratulated them on how far they've come in just a year and a half. Somehow, this devolved into a discussion about haggis. That Scottish dish made out of a sheep's heart and lungs. It was a pretty solid interview.

Speaking of bands who popped at SXSW 2009, Local Natives were also at last night's Rock the Vote party - and put on one of my favorite performances of the whole weekend.

I'm quickly beginning to latch onto these intimate small-venue parties that have risen up around ACL proper. Austin is a little city, mind you, so there's really only a limited number of places you can do stuff like this - and American Legion Hall, in the very second story room where Local Natives played last night, was the exact same room where two friends of got married last summer. Back in July, I stood in a quiet, reverent circle in the room's perimeter, watching Karl and Rendi sway to the beat of their first married couple dance; last night, I jumped up and down in that room with a hundred sweaty bodies to the frenetic drumming of Local Natives.

In all of Austin, this one room, in this one house, is a very sacred spot for me.

Local Natives were so thankful during their set, repeating over and over again how much they loved Austin. We were drunk with flattery.

Outside, Megan saw one of them, and insisted I interview him. She tapped him on the shoulder.

9 comments:

I was distracted by that blow-up doll all day too. How could anyone not be :) I love reading your recaps, and you were smart and broke them down by day. I didn't do that and it took me forever to finally finish writing it out, but at least it is done and posted now. I had so much fun this weekend I'm glad I was able to make it happen!

I realized just how old I was this weekend. Three days on my feet, sunburned, and dehydrated has caught up with me. I'm sitting here in my pj's "working" and trying to recover. I'm glad I saw you from afar. Still wish I would have tackled you though. :)

I got the Ok to do the profile piece on you! I just need a little bit of time to come up with some questions, and then I'll talk to you about setting up a good interview time and place. Does that sound ok?

LOL....Megan!!! Yes. I DID forget about that part. Ryan, are you looking forward to your next "interview?"

@Heather - WORD. I am in PJ's too, still. :) Thank God we work from home.

Let's take this blog comment section relationship to the next level. Drinks this Sunday?

@BSimms - Ahh, Brittney! That's awesome!! Of course, it all sounds lovely. I think you have my email address, but let me know if you don't. If you live near campus, I am in Hyde Park, near Dolce Vita (LOVE!) as well as Quacks...mmm. Hungry now.

I have your email address. I'll email you whenever I get a better idea about what my week is going to look like. If I get as much homework done tonight as I am planning on then maybe something later in the week will work. I live in Hyde Park area too, so either of those places works for me. You can choose.